The story of the design of Bengaluru
Students of architecture and town planning in India, are familiar with the name of Le Corbusier, who designed the planned city of Chandigarh. But it is quite unlikely that they would have heard of Kempegowda, or maybe would have heard of him as some local, sundry chieftain from the south. This post is about why Kempegowda is so revered in Bengaluru and the science behind his founding of the town that is now India's tech capital. Kempegowda was a regional chieftain (ಪಾಳೇಗಾರ) under the Vijayanagar empire that was headquartered in Hampe (known as Hampi, to the outside world). He is widely regarded as the founder of present-day form of Bengaluru, but very few people know why this is so. Bengaluru is situated on top of the Deccan plateau, and is about 3000ft above sea level. It literally sits on hard, igneous rock, and was historically known for its white granite. The name of the town literally comes from the white granite (ಬೆಂಗಲ್ಲು) that is found here. The name of the town has n